God's people still have trust issues that hold them back.
Numbers 13:28-31 But the people living there are powerful, and their
towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of
Anak! 29 The Amalekites live in the
Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country.
The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the
Jordan Valley."
30 But Caleb tried to quiet
the people as they stood before Moses. "Let's go at once to take the land,"
he said. "We can certainly conquer it!"
31 But the other men who had
explored the land with him disagreed. "We can't go up against them! They are
stronger than we are!"
One of the main points of God's story in the Bible is the promise of God
to take a group of chosen people to a Promised Land. God took his people from
the depths of despair in the dark kingdom of Egypt and treated them with great
grace and mercy as he lovingly guided them to live in a better place.
God also taught them to live a better way that reflects his values, he paused
the trip at Mount Sinai to prepare his people to live in that land in a way
that is totally different from the nations around them. Their new kingdom
should have been a reflection of God's future kingdom that we are all longing
to see but they failed to complete their mission.
But their struggles and failures are very much like ours. We all have the
tendency to doubt God's goodness as we focus on our immediate circumstances
and we begin to compare ourselves to others and sometimes we even think that
the people that are not God's people have a better life.
It seems logical from a human perspective to believe that God's people should
be treated the best and have the easy life, but God didn't separate us from
the troubles of this life, When the trouble comes we can be tempted to believe the lie that the joys
and blessings that God has for his people are somehow inadequate and not worth
the sacrifice.
There is a lot that we can learn from God's people in the Old Testament that
will help us on our journey across this wilderness that is our temporary home as we move towards the amazing destination
that God is preparing for his people.
Travel Tips For The Road To The Promised Land:
Do Not Doubt God's Word
In Numbers 13:1-3 it looks like it was God's idea for his people to scout
out the land and the people that are there but 40 years later when Moses
gives final instructions to God's people, it seems like God was just
giving the people what they had already asked for.
Deuteronomy 1:21-22 "Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don't be afraid! Don't be discouraged! 22 But you all came to me and said, 'First, let's send out scouts to explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best route to take and which towns we should enter."
The Israelites lacked the courage, and faith to take the land that God
told them is theirs. After all of the protection that God provided since
the plagues way back in Egypt, especially that last one, and after all
of the care and protection on the way through the wilderness, they still
didn't put their faith in God's word.
Do Not Discourage God's People
Negative talk can be all in your head or it can come from someone around you, we have to remember that it is way too easy to be discouraged and the negative talk that we listen can keep us from listening to God's voice.
It's bad enough
when one person does it but in these verses there is a committee, that's usually a bad
sign, this committee was reporting about their research. You could call it opposition research, they found that
God was honest about the goodness of the land but, they had a very big
"but."
Numbers 13:28 But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak!Deuteronomy 1:26-28 But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God and refused to go in. 27 You complained in your tents and said, 'The LORD must hate us. That's why he has brought us here from Egypt-to hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, "The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there-the descendants of Anak!"'
It only takes one negative voice to stop the work of God but this was
the majority of voices in a committee so it would be almost impossible
to overcome their recommendation. The negative voices set them back 40 years.
Certainly there must have been other travelers that they met along the
way during those 40 years in the wilderness, those people must have been
amazed that God didn't get his people to the place that he promised. But
it wasn't God that failed, his people still had more to learn about how
dependable he is.
Do Not Defy God's Will
Numbers 14:1-4 Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. "If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!" they complained. 3 "Why is the LORD taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?" 4 Then they plotted among themselves, "Let's choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!"
Everyday God's people are forced to make a choice, will we follow the
leader that God has given us or will we elect a new leader and go back
to Egypt. Negative people in the church discourage God's people and stir
up a rebellion against God's leaders.
Do Not Disobey And Deserve God's Judgement
Numbers 14:10-11 But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle. 11 And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?"
God showed up with some serious questions for his people, and suddenly his people are concerned about the consequences of their sin. They have always strived to have the easiest life possible and now that they know how God is going to punish them they decide it is better to obey his first command.
Numbers 14:40-42 Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. "Let's go," they said. "We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the LORD has promised us." 41 But Moses said, "Why are you now disobeying the LORD's orders to return to the wilderness? It won't work. 42 Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the LORD is not with you.
Taking the land isn't an option any longer, since God isn't going with them, they will not have a victory over the Canaanites. They couldn't win no matter what they did, they were sentenced to death in the wilderness but if they rebelled and tried to defeat the Canaanites they would still experience death.
We love the Bible verse that says "If God is for you, who can be against you," but turn that around. If God is against you, it doesn't matter who is for you.
| Reacting To God's Will |
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We need to know and understand God's will:
Ephesians 5:17,20 Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what
the Lord wants you to do. And give thanks for everything to
God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to find delight in his will:
Psalm 40:8 I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your
instructions are written on my heart."
We need to whole heartly obey his will:
Ephesians 6:6 As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all
your heart
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Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?
Help me Lord to grow in faith and obedience to your will despite the fact that what I feel, what I see and what I think may be telling me to doubt your goodness. I want to trust and obey so that you will be glorified.
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